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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Srivilliputhur Aandal temple

Aandal temple in Sriviliputtur is yet another famous and ancient temple and is also one among the 108 divyadesams of Vishnu. The imposing tower of this temple is very attractive and the main tower of the temple is on the official emblem of Government of Tamil Nadu.

The Aadi(Tamil month)Pooram festival is famous here and is for 12 days. The festival is on now and thousands of devotees converge here for the same . Pooram is the birth star of Aandal and the chariot festival on the 9th day attracts lot of devotees to this temple. Aandal is believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Bhoodevi.

There are two temples here . One for Lord Vishnu, known here as Vatapatrasayi and he is in a reclining position here. Vata patra means the leaf of banyan tree and this is found at the head of the deity here. This is the sacred place where the great devotee of Vishnu, Aandal used to worship the Lord . The sanctum has beautiful paintings of Gods and Goddesses.

Aandal temple is next to the Vatapatrasayi temple. In between the temples is Nandavanam, a small shrine where Aandal was found and adopted by Perialwar ( devotee of Vishnu). Aandal temple has beautiful mandapams with exquisite carvings and here She gives darshan to her devotees along with Rengamannar (Vishnu) and Garuda. .There is a well inside the temple where Aandal used to see her reflection everyday after wearing the garland meant for the Lord. She succeeded in winning the affection of the Lord . As per Lord's wish her father took her to Sri Rangam , Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple where she merged with the Lord.

Andal is the only woman Alwar (saint) of Vaishnavism and She has composed two beautiful literary gems in Tamil, Tirupavai and Nachiyar Tirumozhi which is sung even today by devotees during the Tamil month of Maarghazhi.

Her father Perialvar also has a separate sannidhi in Vatapatra Sayi temple and there are also separate shrines for Chakrathazhvar and Nammalwar.

Srivilliputhur is famous for palgova, a milk sweet and people make it a point to buy this when they visit this place.

How to reach: Srivilliputhur is about 75 Kms from Madurai on NH 208.

Madurai is well connected with air, rail and road. Many buses ply from all parts of Tamil Nadu to the town of Srivilliputhur.Accommodation: Budget hotels are available in Srivilliputtur and Rajapalayam town which is just 14kms. from here but I would suggest staying in Madurai is a better option as all types of accommodation, luxury , deluxe and budget hotels are available there.Temples nearby :

You need to upload pictures in picasa. Before that if you want to edit - Picasa documents helps you to edit photo, add light, crop, add your name etc. Then after you upload you will have to click those uploaded photos in your web album. On the right side you will see link for embed slide show. Click that , you will get HTML code and that you have to paste in your blog.It is quite easy.

http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66969 The above link may help. If you need any further help I would be happy to help you.Have a nice day.

Dear Chitra, Good Morning!Thanks a bunch for sharing the details and information.Amazing photographs.Each temple has a story to tell.I loved the part of Andal looking into the well water and admire the reflections. Continue your journey to temples. Have a bright and beautiful day. Sasneham, Anu

Anupama,Nice to see you here, inspite of your busy schedule. I had seen a movie on Aandal when I was young. But I never thought I would be seeing a temple dedicated to her.the well is called as kannadi kinar. It is really fascinating to see these things in person.take care . Have a nice day.

Very beautifully described about Andar temple in Srivilliputhur which is very famous. Temple looks very nice and I always appreciate for your wonderful presentation as you describe very nicely with lovely pictures. I would like to learn from you about the slide shows which is eye-catching.

Babli,Slide shows are very easy to learn. I have mentioned it above in the comment section for Kiran. It is very simple and I feel you too can use them in your recipes preparation to show various stages of preparation.

I would love to see the well inside and to try the sweet milk. I love learning of these festivals and temples through you. One day I hope to visit in person -- I won't need a tour guide, I'll just use your blog as a guide. :-)Traci

Chitra, Wonderful collection of pictures this time. These days many temples does not allow camera inside the temple. I remember some years back i had taken beautiful pictures inside Puri Jaganath temple. But when i visited recently they did not allow anything inside, leather purse, belt, mobile, camera and any metallic object! Side effect of becoming modern I guess!!!

GopalanLike you said, many a time I also find it difficult to take the camera inside. But some temples allow except near the sanctum. They site security as the man reason but on the sly I have seen many shooting on mobile cameras which I never do .Don't like to go against the rules.

We are planning on a trip to srivilliputhur in December and that would be our first stop. What is the best hotel to stay for a day and get refreshed. And we are planning to proceed to tirunelveli from there.